The first game I’ve ever played in my life was Super Mario 64. As a kid not really aware of the significance of this title for many years to come, a lot still stuck with me like Mario’s seamless movement in 3D and the possibilities it hosted interacting with the worlds and environment in both intended and unintended means. The worlds, in particular the initial set on the first level of Peach’s castle, felt so lively and overwhelming at first in the possibilities that existed and what could be found or missed even after seemingly scoping out the entire world. Hearing the keys of Jolly Roger Bay now almost twenty years removed still shoots a pang in my heart thinking back to my 5 year old self trying to catch all the red coins, get the power star early in the jet stream or plunder the secrets of the grimy underwater cavern. It’s easy nowadays to look back at 64 and the more questionable parts like hit or miss levels of the game, constant interruption in getting the stars, and the god awful camera, but the sense of amazement and charm around each corner and crevice of the experience rode high so hard then for me and I’m actually playing it. A bygone era so deeply intertwined with my childhood nostalgia that shaped and informed how I approach this medium even today.
Banjo Kazooie unfortunately was not part of my childhood like many people have experienced and I arrived real late on this duo’s whole thing until sometime around 2008 where I saw a commercial of nuts and bolts and its box art and being transfixed by their designs, Banjo in particular. Still, I never got around to the first game for many years to come until I stumbled upon a copy of it and its sequel randomly in my local used games store. It’s hard recalling many specific things I felt regarding the game then since it’s more than ten years removed at this point and I only progressed about as far as Clanker’s Cavern, but I wasn’t as in love with it like the acclaim it attracted but it was still a pretty captivating and colorful time. Though now I can say I 100%’d the entire game and find it to be more enjoyable than I thought before, not in a masterpiece way but still so invigorating to experience fully.
For as welcoming as this game oozes with the very cutesy and theatre kid like intro, I was caught off guard initially with how strict the movement is and levels later on tend to get later on. Banjo and Kazooie’s starting moveset is limited but opens up with each passing level to be a very unique tool kit of methodical traversal and basic enemy smashing. It doesn’t compare to the level of momentum and speed that can be generated and exploited from Mario and Sonic’s 3D outings at the time, but it still strikes a strong and enthralling identity with levels tuned and tailor-made around it with satisfying puzzles that incorporate their skills like the numerous egg-related puzzles, target puzzles with the beak bomb ability, and basic platforming and scaling done with the feathery flap, flap flip, talon trot and other abilities, even a toggle invulnerability skill. The levels are crafted very much around verticality while offering a lot to distinguish them from one another in their environments, characters and enemies, avoiding the issue of heavy reuse or too abstract territory in their level design. They are scaled near perfectly to prevent tedium from kicking in next to just how appealing it is to collect the various number of trinkets littered around the zones. I appreciate Rare’s approach to the collectibles by having both good variety and theming with the Jinjos, music notes, Jiggies, Mumbo tokens, honeycombs and other items that make collecting them appetizing outside of an overarching achievement. Music note collecting can become painful in some of the later levels with losing all your progress if you end up dying but this only became an annoyance in the later few levels that pushed the difficulty up slightly from its usual coasting fare.
The starting area of the tutorialized Spiral Mountain to Mumbo's Mountain and Treasure Trove Cove as the first two levels ease in how the game will go before truly adding some escalation with the levels onwards starting with Clanker’s Cavern. I recall my first experience of this place being a particular stinker that stopped me in my tracks because of how unwieldy I found swimming to be compared to Mario 64’s more in control feel, especially in stopping and changing direction. Playing Clanker again I didn’t find it to be much frustrating outside of turning and angling Banjo while swimming but alternating between the kicking and wing stroke (and apparently using the right bumper for sharp turns) alleviated some of the unwieldy feel. For as bad of a rap I feel this level gets, it was surprisingly fair and dare I say fun to go through and see this rise in challenge that would continue for most of the rest of the levels. Bubblegloop is a bit less exciting exploration wise and the gator mini game being too high energy until I unlocked the running shoes, but it was still interesting to see where it went and collecting the jiggies was a fun breeze. Freezeezy peak similarly felt more pulled in with the main peak of the tall snow man being the most interesting of the stage though falling on the short side; it did introduce the aerial beak bomb skill though it feels that it is missing a very needed reticle or some soft lock on as aiming is a bit too guesswork next to turning and recovering while flying being funky with the camera. Gobi’s desert ups the escalation with more treacherous terrain and an array of major and mini puzzles available such as the pyramids and the various ways of opening them and excavating the secrets within.
Mad Monster Mansion is possibly the peak of the levels for me with how many pathways and areas are layered across the map, even the Mansion alone, that I ended up missing a few things when I first exited the level. Rusty Bucket Bay and Click Clack Wood are the ultimate tests of the experience; the former being very strict on platforming and traversal outside with the trap of oily water draining available air below and above the surface fast and inside the ship with the engine room as the most unruly part of the game, somewhat to a frustrating degree with how sensitive Banjo’s movement feels at least playing on switch when walking across smaller and narrower platforms and connecting pathways. It’s a miracle having the suspend points as I feel I wouldn’t have completed this level fully with how many times I’ve dived off the deep end from making one wrong step or overextending a leap in the engine room. Click Clack Wood is much less difficult but unfortunately falls on the tedious side with an ambitious four season structure encompassing the same level of scaling a big tree and its surrounding puzzles for all the collectables. Collecting everything in Rusty was painful but Click Clack Wood felt more exhausting even halfway through going through the mostly same menial tasks, though a few had diverging set ups that changed across the seasons to fully get the jiggies associated with them. It never reached the levels of a Rainbow Ride, Tick Tock Clock or any other of Mario 64’s less stellar levels, but it did feel more intriguing as a concept versus the execution this time around. Overall, this set of worlds are excellent across the board and do their job well in emphasizing and incentivizing exploring the zones even when collecting the 100 music notes without dying felt sometimes eye rolling with some aspects of bullshit ending my runs roughly.
I don’t have extensive comments on the music outside of it fitting very well the gorgeous and charming presentation of Banjo-Kazooie’s worlds and layout. Sound design similarly is charismatic as each character and enemy feel vividly themselves in what they sound like, even if a few bordered on annoying or eye rolling at times. I will say I have a soft spot for the power up jingle played when using the temporary power ups and the different versions played depending on which is being used. The final boss theme goes hard for a delightfully tense final encounter with Gruntilda that incorporates a good variety of the skills gained across the journey. Sure aiming the eggs and beak bombing Grunty in the air was a bit frustrating with the camera but seeing the Mighty Jinjonator bash the shit out of Grunty in the end after all the effort is such a satisfying finish that I can almost overlook the annoyance.
It’s hard to pick up anything significant I didn’t like from my experience outside of the awkward camera but that’s more a staple of the era than anything completely unique to Banjo Kazooie. This game has aged very well for how long ago it came out, especially as a Nintendo 64 title. The thought of collecting everything in Super Mario 64 is a headache with how finicky the levels and platforming can get but Banjo Kazooie was a fun ride through and through outside of some hiccups on the way.
After engaging with very long and intensive games recently, I’ve had a craving for something smaller and more focused and Banjo-Kazooie definitely fit that bill. In many ways it was pretty refreshing to revisit this more bite sized adventure after clocking in so much time with more recent, bigger and sometimes exhaustive AAA titles that are fun in their own right but have started to have some diminishing returns the more I spent with them. Nostalgia rearing around again but a part of me does yearn for this era where the scale of games even at the top weren’t too alarming yet and what’s next not too far or too cautious with the threat of studio closure or acquisition to drain their bodies; the outright tease of Banjo-Tooie in the end credits and delivery of the extra in-game secrets after getting all the collectibles is real cocky but feels so human and sweet over a little bling of an achievement saying I completed everything in the game or the usual credit roll at the end of titles. I can admit this is a bit of a too nihilistic view at times given that so much good shit is still coming out today and even in the 90s and early aughts game development and various wings of it weren’t exactly rosy, especially many things Sega like that blue hedgehog and his messy titles around the fifth generation and onwards. Even Rare couldn’t escape the more vicious parts of this industry then and exists as a shell compared to its status decades ago. Never change games industry.
Regardless, I’ve greatly enjoyed my time with Banjo-Kazooie. It’s satisfied and ignited my craving for 3D platformer collect-a-thons again that has been a bit quiet for some time with all the action and rpg titles I’ve given myself to. I’m curious how I’ll feel about Tooie now since I recall not having a fun time with it ten years back. It would be very convenient to jump into it if Nintendo’s shameless online service had it but I suppose it will be added at some point when they raise the price again, but it’s whatever and other means to play can’t be too much of a problem. Who knows, maybe I’ll power up Super Mario 64 now and actually complete all the power stars for once since I’m feeling early 3D platformers again (extreme doubt).
Banjo Kazooie unfortunately was not part of my childhood like many people have experienced and I arrived real late on this duo’s whole thing until sometime around 2008 where I saw a commercial of nuts and bolts and its box art and being transfixed by their designs, Banjo in particular. Still, I never got around to the first game for many years to come until I stumbled upon a copy of it and its sequel randomly in my local used games store. It’s hard recalling many specific things I felt regarding the game then since it’s more than ten years removed at this point and I only progressed about as far as Clanker’s Cavern, but I wasn’t as in love with it like the acclaim it attracted but it was still a pretty captivating and colorful time. Though now I can say I 100%’d the entire game and find it to be more enjoyable than I thought before, not in a masterpiece way but still so invigorating to experience fully.
For as welcoming as this game oozes with the very cutesy and theatre kid like intro, I was caught off guard initially with how strict the movement is and levels later on tend to get later on. Banjo and Kazooie’s starting moveset is limited but opens up with each passing level to be a very unique tool kit of methodical traversal and basic enemy smashing. It doesn’t compare to the level of momentum and speed that can be generated and exploited from Mario and Sonic’s 3D outings at the time, but it still strikes a strong and enthralling identity with levels tuned and tailor-made around it with satisfying puzzles that incorporate their skills like the numerous egg-related puzzles, target puzzles with the beak bomb ability, and basic platforming and scaling done with the feathery flap, flap flip, talon trot and other abilities, even a toggle invulnerability skill. The levels are crafted very much around verticality while offering a lot to distinguish them from one another in their environments, characters and enemies, avoiding the issue of heavy reuse or too abstract territory in their level design. They are scaled near perfectly to prevent tedium from kicking in next to just how appealing it is to collect the various number of trinkets littered around the zones. I appreciate Rare’s approach to the collectibles by having both good variety and theming with the Jinjos, music notes, Jiggies, Mumbo tokens, honeycombs and other items that make collecting them appetizing outside of an overarching achievement. Music note collecting can become painful in some of the later levels with losing all your progress if you end up dying but this only became an annoyance in the later few levels that pushed the difficulty up slightly from its usual coasting fare.
The starting area of the tutorialized Spiral Mountain to Mumbo's Mountain and Treasure Trove Cove as the first two levels ease in how the game will go before truly adding some escalation with the levels onwards starting with Clanker’s Cavern. I recall my first experience of this place being a particular stinker that stopped me in my tracks because of how unwieldy I found swimming to be compared to Mario 64’s more in control feel, especially in stopping and changing direction. Playing Clanker again I didn’t find it to be much frustrating outside of turning and angling Banjo while swimming but alternating between the kicking and wing stroke (and apparently using the right bumper for sharp turns) alleviated some of the unwieldy feel. For as bad of a rap I feel this level gets, it was surprisingly fair and dare I say fun to go through and see this rise in challenge that would continue for most of the rest of the levels. Bubblegloop is a bit less exciting exploration wise and the gator mini game being too high energy until I unlocked the running shoes, but it was still interesting to see where it went and collecting the jiggies was a fun breeze. Freezeezy peak similarly felt more pulled in with the main peak of the tall snow man being the most interesting of the stage though falling on the short side; it did introduce the aerial beak bomb skill though it feels that it is missing a very needed reticle or some soft lock on as aiming is a bit too guesswork next to turning and recovering while flying being funky with the camera. Gobi’s desert ups the escalation with more treacherous terrain and an array of major and mini puzzles available such as the pyramids and the various ways of opening them and excavating the secrets within.
Mad Monster Mansion is possibly the peak of the levels for me with how many pathways and areas are layered across the map, even the Mansion alone, that I ended up missing a few things when I first exited the level. Rusty Bucket Bay and Click Clack Wood are the ultimate tests of the experience; the former being very strict on platforming and traversal outside with the trap of oily water draining available air below and above the surface fast and inside the ship with the engine room as the most unruly part of the game, somewhat to a frustrating degree with how sensitive Banjo’s movement feels at least playing on switch when walking across smaller and narrower platforms and connecting pathways. It’s a miracle having the suspend points as I feel I wouldn’t have completed this level fully with how many times I’ve dived off the deep end from making one wrong step or overextending a leap in the engine room. Click Clack Wood is much less difficult but unfortunately falls on the tedious side with an ambitious four season structure encompassing the same level of scaling a big tree and its surrounding puzzles for all the collectables. Collecting everything in Rusty was painful but Click Clack Wood felt more exhausting even halfway through going through the mostly same menial tasks, though a few had diverging set ups that changed across the seasons to fully get the jiggies associated with them. It never reached the levels of a Rainbow Ride, Tick Tock Clock or any other of Mario 64’s less stellar levels, but it did feel more intriguing as a concept versus the execution this time around. Overall, this set of worlds are excellent across the board and do their job well in emphasizing and incentivizing exploring the zones even when collecting the 100 music notes without dying felt sometimes eye rolling with some aspects of bullshit ending my runs roughly.
I don’t have extensive comments on the music outside of it fitting very well the gorgeous and charming presentation of Banjo-Kazooie’s worlds and layout. Sound design similarly is charismatic as each character and enemy feel vividly themselves in what they sound like, even if a few bordered on annoying or eye rolling at times. I will say I have a soft spot for the power up jingle played when using the temporary power ups and the different versions played depending on which is being used. The final boss theme goes hard for a delightfully tense final encounter with Gruntilda that incorporates a good variety of the skills gained across the journey. Sure aiming the eggs and beak bombing Grunty in the air was a bit frustrating with the camera but seeing the Mighty Jinjonator bash the shit out of Grunty in the end after all the effort is such a satisfying finish that I can almost overlook the annoyance.
It’s hard to pick up anything significant I didn’t like from my experience outside of the awkward camera but that’s more a staple of the era than anything completely unique to Banjo Kazooie. This game has aged very well for how long ago it came out, especially as a Nintendo 64 title. The thought of collecting everything in Super Mario 64 is a headache with how finicky the levels and platforming can get but Banjo Kazooie was a fun ride through and through outside of some hiccups on the way.
After engaging with very long and intensive games recently, I’ve had a craving for something smaller and more focused and Banjo-Kazooie definitely fit that bill. In many ways it was pretty refreshing to revisit this more bite sized adventure after clocking in so much time with more recent, bigger and sometimes exhaustive AAA titles that are fun in their own right but have started to have some diminishing returns the more I spent with them. Nostalgia rearing around again but a part of me does yearn for this era where the scale of games even at the top weren’t too alarming yet and what’s next not too far or too cautious with the threat of studio closure or acquisition to drain their bodies; the outright tease of Banjo-Tooie in the end credits and delivery of the extra in-game secrets after getting all the collectibles is real cocky but feels so human and sweet over a little bling of an achievement saying I completed everything in the game or the usual credit roll at the end of titles. I can admit this is a bit of a too nihilistic view at times given that so much good shit is still coming out today and even in the 90s and early aughts game development and various wings of it weren’t exactly rosy, especially many things Sega like that blue hedgehog and his messy titles around the fifth generation and onwards. Even Rare couldn’t escape the more vicious parts of this industry then and exists as a shell compared to its status decades ago. Never change games industry.
Regardless, I’ve greatly enjoyed my time with Banjo-Kazooie. It’s satisfied and ignited my craving for 3D platformer collect-a-thons again that has been a bit quiet for some time with all the action and rpg titles I’ve given myself to. I’m curious how I’ll feel about Tooie now since I recall not having a fun time with it ten years back. It would be very convenient to jump into it if Nintendo’s shameless online service had it but I suppose it will be added at some point when they raise the price again, but it’s whatever and other means to play can’t be too much of a problem. Who knows, maybe I’ll power up Super Mario 64 now and actually complete all the power stars for once since I’m feeling early 3D platformers again (extreme doubt).